Surgical screws must be cleaned and sterilized before they can be used for surgery. For this purpose, the surgical screws may be stored in a rack. The rack with the screws are generally placed in a cleaning or sterilization chamber into which a fluid cleaning or sterilization medium (such as hot water vapor) may be introduced. To obtain a good cleaning or sterilization result, the surgical screws are preferably arranged in the rack such that the fluid medium can fully access the screws. It is also preferable that the surgical screws can be easily removed from the rack after the cleaning or sterilization operation.
DE 20 2007 007 409 U1 discloses a sterilization rack for surgical screws. The rack comprises a plate with holes for accommodating the screws. Two holes are connected by an elongate slot, wherein the diameter of each hole is larger than the width of the connecting slot. Each hole is adapted to accommodate a shaft of a surgical screw. A head of the surgical screw has a lager diameter than the hole, so that the material surrounding the hole can support the screw head when inserted into the hole.